Page 107 of 280
SAFETY RESTRAINTS
Safety restraints precautions
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit where they
can be properly restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the
vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from
injury in a collision.
All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an air bag (SRS) is
provided.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or
outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in these areas
are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to
ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and
safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a
safety belt properly.
In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely
to die than a person wearing a safety belt.
Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific safety belt
assembly which is made up of one buckle and one tongue that
are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on the
outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm. 2)
Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside shoulder.
3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.
Seating and safety restraints
107
Page 108 of 280
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
Energy Management Feature
²This vehicle has a safety belt system with an energy management
feature at the front seating positions to help further reduce the risk of
injury in the event of a head-on collision.
²This safety belt system has a retractor assembly that is designed to
pay out webbing in a controlled manner. This feature is designed to
help reduce the belt force acting on the occupant's chest.
After any vehicle collision, the safety belt system at all outboard
seating positions (except driver, which has no ªautomatic locking
retractorº feature) must be checked by a qualified technician to verify
that the ªautomatic locking retractorº feature for child seats is still
functioning properly. In addition, all safety belts should be checked for
proper function.
BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if
the safety belt assembly ªautomatic locking retractorº feature or
any other safety belt function is not operating properly when checked
according to the procedures in Workshop Manual.
Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor assembly could
increase the risk of injury in collisions.
Combination lap and shoulder belts
1. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) until you hear a snap and feel
it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened in the buckle.
Seating and safety restraints
108
Page 109 of 280
2. To unfasten, push the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
The front and rear outboard safety restraints in the vehicle are
combination lap and shoulder belts. The front passenger and rear seat
outboard safety belts have two types of locking modes described below:
Vehicle sensitive mode
The vehicle sensitive mode is the normal retractor mode, allowing free
shoulder belt length adjustment to your movements and locking in
response to vehicle movement. For example, if the driver brakes
suddenly or turns a corner sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of
approximately 8 km/h (5 mph) or more, the combination safety belts will
lock to help reduce forward movement of the driver and passengers.
Automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will
still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt.
The automatic locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.
When to use the automatic locking mode
²Any timea child safety seat is installed in a passenger front or
outboard rear seating position (if equipped). Children 12 years old and
under should be properly restrained in the rear seat whenever
possible. Refer toSafety Restraints for ChildrenorSafety Seats for
Childrenlater in this chapter.
Seating and safety restraints
109
Page 110 of 280
How to use the automatic locking mode
²Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
²Grasp the shoulder portion and
pull downward until the entire
belt is extracted.
²Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will hear a clicking
sound. This indicates the safety belt is now in the automatic locking
mode.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Disconnect the combination lap/shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the
vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
Seating and safety restraints
110
Page 111 of 280
After any vehicle collision, the front passenger outboard seat belt
system must be checked by a qualified technician to verify that
the ªautomatic locking retractorº feature for child seats is still
functioning properly. In addition, all seat belts should be checked for
proper function.
BELT AND RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY MUST BE REPLACED if
the seat belt assembly ªautomatic locking retractorº feature or
any other seat belt function is not operating properly when checked
according to the procedures in Workshop Manual.
Failure to replace the Belt and Retractor assembly could
increase the risk of injury in collisions.
Front safety belt height adjustment
Your vehicle has safety belt height
adjustments for the driver and front
passenger. Adjust the height of the
shoulder belt so the belt rests
across the middle of your shoulder.
To lower the shoulder belt height,
push the button and slide the height
adjuster down. To raise the height
of the shoulder belt, slide the height
adjuster up. Pull down on the height
adjuster to make sure it is locked in
place.
Position the shoulder belt
height adjusters so that the
belt rests across the middle of
your shoulder. Failure to adjust
the safety belt properly could
reduce the effectiveness of the
seat belt and increase the risk of
injury in a collision.
Seating and safety restraints
111
Page 112 of 280
Lap belts
Adjusting the center lap belt
The lap belt does not adjust automatically.
The lap belt should fit snugly and as low as possible around the
hips, not across the waist.
Insert the tongue into the correct
buckle (the buckle closest to the
direction the tongue is coming
from). To lengthen the belt, turn the
tongue at a right angle to the belt
and pull across your lap until it
reaches the buckle. To tighten the
belt, pull the loose end of the belt
through the tongue until it fits
snugly across the hips.
Shorten and fasten the belt when
not in use.
Safety belt extension assembly
If the safety belt is too short when fully extended, there is a 20 cm (8
inch) safety belt extension assembly that can be added (part number
611C22). This assembly can be obtained from your dealer at no cost.
Seating and safety restraints
112
Page 113 of 280
Use only extensions manufactured by the same supplier as the safety
belt. Manufacturer identification is located at the end of the webbing on
the label. Also, use the safety belt extension only if the safety belt is too
short for you when fully extended. Do not use extensions to change the
fit of the shoulder belt across the torso.
Safety belt warning light and indicator chime
The seat belt warning light illuminates in the instrument cluster and a
chime sounds to remind the occupants to fasten their safety belts.
Conditions of operation
If... Then...
The driver's safety belt is not
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position...The safety belt warning light
illuminates 1 minute and the warning
chime sounds 6 seconds.
The driver's safety belt is
buckled while the indicator
light is illuminated and the
warning chime is sounding...The safety belt warning light and
warning chime turn off.
The driver's safety belt is
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position...The safety belt warning light and
indicator chime remain off.
BeltMinder
The BeltMinder feature is a supplemental warning to the safety belt
warning function. This feature provides additional reminders to the
driver that the driver's safety belt is unbuckled by intermittently
sounding a chime and illuminating the safety belt warning lamp in the
instrument cluster.
Seating and safety restraints
113
Page 114 of 280
If... Then...
The driver's safety belt is not
buckled approximately 5
seconds after the safety belt
warning light has turned off
and vehicle speed exceeds
8km/h (3 mph)...The BeltMinder feature is activated -
the safety belt warning light
illuminates and the warning chime
sounds for 6 seconds every 30
seconds, repeating for approximately
5 minutes or until safety belt is
buckled.
The driver's safety belt is
buckled while the safety belt
indicator light is illuminated
and the safety belt warning
chime is sounding...The BeltMinder feature will not
activate.
The driver's safety belt is
buckled before the ignition
switch is turned to the ON
position...The BeltMinder feature will not
activate.
The purpose of the BeltMinder is to remind occasional wearers to wear
safety belts all of the time.
The following are reasons most often given for not wearing safety belts:
(All statistics based on U.S. data)
Reasons given... Consider...
9Crashes are rare events936 700 crashes occur every day.
The more we drive, the more we are
exposed to9rare9events, even for
good drivers.1 in 4 of us will be
seriously injured in a crash during
our lifetime.
9I'm not going far93of4fatal crashes occur within25
miles of home.
Seating and safety restraints
114
